How To Chose Your Book Title

Many thanks to all those who helped contribute to my upcoming book. I can reveal the title will be:

Escape The Cubicle: Quit the Job You Hate & Create A Life You Love

I feel so relieved to have just finally picked a title so that I can start the cover design. In this post, I want to share with you the process I took to getting to this title.

Choosing titles is a fun process of the book journey but it can also be highly stressful (as it was in my case). It took me a while to finalise my book title. Procrastinating along the way didn’t help either but I got there in the end!

With hindsight, I can safely say that perhaps I caused myself unnecessary tension with this decision. So I want you to avoid feeling like this if you are struggling with choosing your book title.

Why Is A Book Title Important?

Your book title is a big deal.

It’s the first thing readers look at. It’s the hook that gets their attention. So the pressure is on for it to be great. And not just great; it needs to be able to get the reader to stop and pay attention to your book.

As an entrepreneur, you need to realise that marketing starts before the book is out. And in terms of title, the entire book is your marketing.

So you need a catchy title but one that also clearly conveys what your book is about.

Be Clear & Get To The Point

In today’s information overloaded world, no one has the time nor patience to wait to see what your book is about.

You need to deliver the content of your book within the first few seconds and your book’s title is the first way to do this.

To start with, I brainstormed a number of potential titles. This generated a list of over 40 different titles and from there, I whittled them down to 10 and then to the top 3-4.

It was these final four options that I then polled my blog readers, friends and family and on social media.

Here are the overwhelming results that showed there were 2 clear winners.

Ask Your Peers i.e author-entrepreneurs, writers

The results below are from an author group I belong to. You can see that the first title, which is much more descriptive and to the point got the most votes.

Ask Your Target Audience / Readers Of Your Book

The second group I polled was a group of people who are in corporate jobs but want to do something different, ie my potential readers and audience!

Again you can see clearly there is one main winner. Funnily enough, they correspond with what authors and writers (who understand the importance of a good title) think.

Ask Friends / Family

And here are the results of my blog readers who are a mix of authors, entrepreneurs and professionals in corporate or office jobs and are largely people who know me personally.

This title doesn’t need any effort to understand what the book is about.

It is clear and direct with it’s message

It shows who the target reader is and who the book would be most relevant to

It clearly refers to ‘cubicle’ workers who you can infer as office workers or even people in other jobs.

The title is short and catchy. It will easily stick in people’s head

The sub-title explains what the benefit of the book is i.e. how to quit your job and create a life you love. It is a little long hence why I have decided to cut out the ‘how to’ part so it reads ‘ Quit the job you hate. Build a life you love’.

The Runner-up Title

The second most popular title was ”Stop Slogging, Start living”.

This was also one of my favourites simply because it’s short and catchy. And again, shorter titles are easier to remember and therefore easier to market especially when readers are referring your book by word of mouth.

For example, many people have come across the best-selling book book by Tim Ferris ‘The Four-Hour Work Week’.

But not many will recall it’s slightly longer sub-title (which if you are wondering is ”Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich).

Should you ask other people for help on your book title?

Yes and no is my opinion and let me tell you why.

You should only ask for feedback once you have nailed down a list of 3-4 title that you have spent a significant amount of time on.

Don’t ask people to make a decision from a list of 20 different titles (which is what I did in the first instance). You will only get back 20 different responses and feel even more confused.

Know Your Book

As the author, only you know what is in the book and what the benefits to the reader are.

It is your job to craft this into the title and make it obvious what problem you are addressing is and how your book provides a solution. The title and sub-title is the best place to address these points.

If you don’t know what your book is about, how can you expect others to know? The title should clearly show what the book is about and the value it delivers.

Take the guesswork out. Make it as clear and simple as possible.

Ask For Feedback

Once you have decided on a few titles you think are appropriate, then poll relevant people.

Ask your friends but also ask your target readers and audience.

If you have author friends, it’s a good idea to ask them too. They will be aware of what needs to go into a good book title for it to sell.

I attend writing conferences and workshops and asked writers there for their feedback.

I feel relieved I have decided on a title. No one can know how successful it will be till the book is out. I know I had been procrastinating on it as I felt fear that I may pick the ‘wrong’ title.

But this is the joy of being a self-published author. We can always change and adapt our titles (even our covers and content) based on real-time feedback.

As an author-entrepreneur, you are the Creative CEO of your publishing company. Nothing is set in stone.

This is the entrepreneurial mindset authors need to embrace.

I will monitor feedback of the book and change and adapt where needed once it is published.

What I learnt from choosing my book title

As the author know your book inside out. Be clear on the problem you are addressing and how your book provides that solution.

You can ask for suggestions but it is your job as the author to come up with a title and subtitle.

Brainstorm as many ideas you can, don’t hold back

Once you have a list, narrow down to your top 5 titles at the most

Get feedback. Poll some people. Ask your reader audience.

Listen to the results and compare with your book’s goal

I originally wanted to go with the title which has some profanity in it (option 4). I thought it would be catchy.

But it received a lot of negative comments. My editor also mentioned that this could put off some retailers including Amazon.

I did some online research and also came across many instances where profanity in the title may prevent me from using some marketing services such as Facebook Ads or Amazon Ads.

Since this is my first self-published book, I want to make this a smooth journey as much as possible and I’m also thinking about my author brand.

Do I want to be associated with swear words in the title at this point in time? Right now, no. But perhaps it could change in the future. So although I really liked this title, I decided against it.

But like I said before, its not a deal breaker. Titles can always be changed later.

After Feedback Make A Decision

I feel relieved I have finally just made a decision and chosen a title.

The main takeaway here is to understand that you need to clearly know what solution your book provides and which problem it addresses.

Then ask for feedback but then make a decision based on the goal of your book.

What is the goal of this book for your author journey? Is it to be used as part of your current business? Or to kick-start your author career? Or to help you stand out as an authority figure in your industry?

For me, this book is about launching my career as an author and entrepreneur. It will help add credibility to my expertise.

The book shows how I moved out of doing work I was no longer passionate about. It shows the steps I took to finding my passions so I could live on purpose and unleash my highest potential. And that is also what I want for my readers to experience if they feel stuck in their lives.

I will now start the cover design process using a professional cover designer and power through the remaining edits. I plan to launch the book within 8 weeks.

Thanks to all those who took part in helping me to choose the title!

How did you choose your book title? Please share in the comments below.

My upcoming book ‘Escape The Cubicle’ will help you to find your passions, live on purpose and unleash your potential.